[Fish Sandwich]

Jetman 46-47:

You know Jetman took two whole weeks off between the original airing of 45 and 46? There was that whole epic showdown with Veronica to round off the show's run in 1991, and heading into the following year, it's like, how much more exciting are things gonna get from here? What is Radiguet's next move now that he's on his own?! What's Tranza's next big plan?! What about Gai and Kaori, and all the other ongoing plotlines in Inoue's complex web of *drama*?! ...And then the first episode after that extended break is some nonsense about tomatoes. Yes, this is the very last episode of Jetman from a writer other than Inoue, and Kenichi Araki picked a heck of a concept to go out on. I generally credit the guy's plots for how the monster drives the overall narrative, and when you've got a villain literally born from Raita's deepest childhood fears, it's definitely meeting that standard well. The whole emotional thrust of the story here relates as directly as possible to what the monster is all about. It's just, you know, the monster is about tomatoes. This is such a weird one, and I can't actually tell you if I really liked it or not, because for a lot of reasons, I find it hard to pin it down. It's like, the episode is completely incongruous with everything happening on either side of it, it's relentlessly silly and completely unashamed of that fact, Raita saves the day by eating, there's maybe some kind of moral in there about overcoming... something, but I'm not totally sure. You'll have to decide for yourself which of those sound like the bad things, and which of them sound like the good things. Or don't, because, again, I can't decide myself. This is episode is tomatoes. That's about as succinct as I can put it.

Although strangely enough, a scene of Radiguet wandering through the streets and reverting to a human form after being weakened from his clash with Tranza marks one of the vanishingly few instances of a non-Inoue episode making an effort to advance the show's story. I mean, going into 47, you could probably just assume why Radiguet looks that way without it being a huge deal, but still, this is worth noting.

Anyways, 47 is awesome. Tranza makes himself a big bazooka thing that basically turns people directly into his commemorative trophies, and he promptly sets out to hunt down the team, secure in the knowledge that Radiguet is definitely not going to get in his way anymore, because that dude is a loser who's probably dead by now. No points for guessing that Radiguet is very much alive, gets in Tranza's way some more, and by the end, proves himself the ultimate winner of their longstanding feud. Tranza's goofy bazooka scheme isn't exactly the most thrilling plot ever by itself, but when it allows us to have an episode where an injured Ryuu works together with Radiguet to defeat Tranza once and for all, the episode as a whole becomes so, so much more. This is really the whole point of Radiguet ditching his usual look. He gets to present himself to a clueless Ryuu as simply a mysterious man who also wants to see Tranza taken down, and with nobody else left to turn to, Ryuu desperately needs that help. It's this interesting sort of camaraderie between them, where Radiguet makes a big deal about how it will be the powers of the two of them combined that will defeat Tranza, as though he's genuinely eager to help Ryuu. Radiguet saves Ryuu's life, reminds him he's a warrior, tells him not to give up, and just generally does his absolute best to be a team player. Because after all, Radiguet is genuinely eager to help Red Hawk... just as long as their goals align. But as soon he finds the moment is right to take down two of his most hated adversaries at once, Radiguet doesn't hesitate to reveal that this is exactly the opportunity he was waiting for. He doesn't end up taking down Ryuu, but Tranza gets pretty much the most brutal possible reminder who the actual main bad guy in this series is. I'm honestly shocked the episode ends the way it does. I definitely didn't hate it though. (Especially the reversal of the whole "say my name" bit from Tranza's debut.) I think I've made it more than clear at this point how much I'm into Radiguet's twisted pride, and this episode is an utterly fantastic showcase for that. He is filled with nothing but sheer loathing and hatred, and what makes him so threatening is that, as he demonstrates through teaming up with Red Hawk, his raw anger often gives him a level of focus most people only achieve from being calm. He's also never had the luxury of complacency, and if you read back the second sentence of this paragraph, you'll realize exactly what the difference between Radiguet and Tranza was in the end.